Kirsten McDonell, B.S.

Kirsten McDonnell received
her B.S. in Natural Resources and Environment with a concentration in Resource
Ecology and Management from the University of Michigan. Kirsten has over six
years of field experience, and has worked at raptor migration research sites in
the Grand Canyon Arizona, Veracruz Mexico, Whitefish Point Michigan, Corpus
Christi Texas, Goshute Mountains Nevada, and Jordanelle Utah. Besides
migration, she has studied raptors on their wintering grounds in Mexico and
Panama, and has conducted nest surveys for Prairie Falcons, Ferruginous Hawks,
Swainson’s Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Golden Eagles, and Burrowing Owls. She has
also worked with cavity nesting birds, nest searching and monitoring, and on
various forest ecology projects.

These experiences plus her strong environmental ethics and
consciousness have lead Kirsten to be involved in formal environmental education
programs and community based initiatives in order to provoke a change in
attitude towards habitat conservation and the proper use of resources. Kirsten
serves as our chief biologist.

Victoria Bailey, M. Ed.

Victoria moved from Colorado to New Mexico in
January 2002 to join a team working to conserve Birds of Prey. She graduated
from Colorado State University in 1996, with a Masters in Education. Her
experience in Colorado encompassed field research on Bald eagles, Osprey, and
Peregrine falcons for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. She has environmental
education experience coupled with raptor handling experience. She has attended
a variety of workshops and classes on raptors, fieldwork, survey techniques,
avian protection issues, and environmental education since her arrival in New
Mexico. She brings a wealth of knowledge along with her enthusiasm for
raptors. She is very passionate about working for Conservation in the Land of
Enchantment.

She has been working with Envirological
Services for four years and is now the Associate Director of this growing
company. She is particularly excited and motivated by the great biologists she
is privileged to call her co-workers. She really enjoys the variety of projects
they are contracted to do, however she favors raptor and Loggerhead shrike
surveys. The entire team of biologists at Envirological Services work together
on their fascinating Burrowing owl projects (find our more in Projects
on this website!).

She maintains a permit
with Wildlife Rescue (WRI), a non-profit organization located in Albuquerque.
She lives in Corrales near the Bosque and Rio Grande where the abundance of
birds, (Bald eagles and Sandhill cranes in the winter!!!) and nesting raptors
keeps a smile on her face! If you’d like to contact her regarding any wildlife
issue or “bird talk” she welcomes your comments.

Marianne Wootten, M.BA.

Marianne received an Associate
of Science and a Bachelor's of Business Administration in Human Resource
Management from New Mexico State University. and completed a Master's of
Business Administration in Accounting at the University of Phoenix. She has
experience in accounting for non profit and for profit businesses and in Human
Resource Management. She has extensive experience working with computer
programming and is now having fun with Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

She gained a deep appreciation
of the environment from her parents and worked with her father propagating
native plants for many years. She has a firm knowledge of plant species local to
New Mexico. She is on the board of directors for
T&E Incorporated, a non-profit foundation
dedicated in furthering environmental research by students. Marianne is thrilled
to be able to combine all her training and experience to do something that she
truly loves. Marianne serves as our business manager.

Octavio Cruz, B.S.

Octavio Cruz was born and
lived for most of his life in Veracruz, Mexico. He acquired his conservation
conscience by being exposed to illegal trafficking of wildlife during a summer
vacation at the age of 13. That same year he started to rehabilitate birds of
prey using falconry, and he has practiced this art ever since then. Octavio (Tavo)
is an ornithologist by trade, obtaining his degree in Biology from Universidad
Veracruzana, and he has spent time working with many different bird species. He
has worked with shorebirds and waterfowl in Alaska, migratory passerines and
raptors in the tropics of Mexico and Panama, and nesting and migratory raptors
in the southwest United States and Mexico. Octavio has worked developing tourism
for conservation, as a high-school professor, as an environmental and hunter
educator, and as a field guide and field biologist, always having in mind a high
value of environmental protection.

In 1988, him and a group of four friends from his childhood
discovered what would three years later turn into the Veracruz: River of Raptors
Project, where he worked for 9 seasons. In 1997 his love for conservation lead
him to start the Alvarado Wetlands Conservation Project and afterwards the
Veracruz Wetlands Conservation Initiative. In 2004 he participated in the
conservation of Harpy Eagles in Panama by designing an education and outreach
program for that country. In 2005, Octavio migrated to New Mexico following his
heart, and found in Envirological Services, Inc. not only the most professional
staff, and more importantly, the kindest people, but also the possibility to
contribute in the development of an effective strategy for the conservation of
Burrowing Owls.